Biggest Doers

I imagined a script for a TV show called Biggest Doers. It's not that I think that Biggest Loser is terrible or has it all wrong. There's certainly a lot worse that can be found on prime time TV. But...

Instead of featuring extreme health and fitness makeovers of obese contestant with "outlier" lifestyle habits, body weight, and blood profiles, this show includes more average folk. Participants actually keep the majority of their daily routines and responsibilities while forging the time and effort that it takes to intelligently prepare and train their bodies to ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING awesome.

So many levels of wrong here...

Sure, there can be talk of body composition and appearance, because who doesn't want that? But I'm certain that if you can get your body to move better that usually leads to feeling better which leads to DOING further-faster-stronger-longer. By then, things like appearance, weight, and blood profiles almost always tend to take care of themselves.

And if Jillian Michaels can use a show to market her barking around and crappy personal training programs, then I sure as hell am going to use this to showcase the profession of physical therapy and what an individualized, structured, and progressive training plan looks like.

Instead of the Weekly Weigh-In, imagine the teenager who has to get up in front of tens of thousands of viewers and 20 Rep Squat some miserably high weight that's 5% more than he did last week. With that televised event bearing down upon him and cameras looming as he goes about his week, do you think he will get enough rest, wake up in time for a healthy breakfast, and work hard and smart on his other training days? Do you think he will still be complaining about not being able to put on muscle?

Or what about the soccer mom who thought she needed to lose twenty pounds? She was caught in a cycle of "not being able to lose weight because I can't exercise because it stirs up this plantar fasciitis that kills..." On Weigh In Awesome Day after week one she's able to walk in the morning with a reasonably symmetrical gait pattern. By week 4 she can do a chin-up and stop her knees from buckling inward when she pulls weight off the ground. By week 6 she's back to jogging. There are a few set-back for drama, and because there usually are setbacks. At her week 12 Awesome Day she runs a 5K in under 25 minutes.

The Grandma who wants to hike the Appalachian Trail with her grandchildren? The collegiate pitcher with nagging elbow pain who wants to hit 90 mph with his fast ball? The 37 year old father of five who wants to run a 4.6 second 40-yard dash? Where do they currently stand and what are their barriers? What unique physical, employment, and family limitations do they face? How much time do they really need to commit to training? [Anser - really not too much.] How much do they need to tailor their life choices toward achieving their goals [Anwer - a lot!]

As opposed to seeing people standing there being weighed in their undies, wouldn't it be far more entertaining and inspiring to watch an average Jane or Joe perform some self selected, (relatively!) superhuman feat of strength or endurance that he or she has trained toward? Wouldn't it be interesting to witness the Hollwood quick-edited version of the steps they take along the way? Maybe when all is said and done, some of the younger ones do break out of average Joe/Jane mediocrity and end up going big college or even pro at baseball or biking or Crossfit or what have you.

But make no mistake, the primary target and competition for each contestant is themselves, achieving some physical feat of awesomeness they previously could not do.